Oakland: Police arrest man suspected of robbing same bank 3 times

OAKLAND -- A man police believe robbed the same Montclair bank three times and attempted to rob it again Wednesday but was locked out by employees has been arrested, a police captain said Thursday.

The man's name has not been released, but Oakland police Capt. Anthony Toribio said he is suspected in a string of bank robberies this summer at a Bank of the West Branch at 2023 Mountain Blvd.

The branch has been robbed three times: July 26, Aug. 1 and Aug. 26. Alert employees stopped a possible fourth bank robbery at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday when they locked the doors after spotting the man outside, police said.

In the Aug. 26 heist, a masked gunman jumped over the counter and robbed two tellers as more than a half-dozen employees and customers watched, police said. He then ran up Medau Place to a trail connecting Montclair to Shepherd Canyon Road, and discarded the mask he was wearing, according to police.

Police are preparing a case to send to prosecutors that includes multiple counts of robbery and attempted robbery, Toribio said.